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My blokepiece allows me to play Carnival of Venice faster than ever before + Fountains of Rome,


in one breath,


simultaneously.

Wasn’t Wade cute, when he was a little bit younger? (Or is it the young Mr. Baer?)

K

They'd make a great pair of defensive guards if they could get their ears into a helmet!

the elephant wrote:That is a photo of me and my lovely mama, taken in 1984. Ain't she just the sweetest thing? I got all my good looks and charm from her. I am lucky, 'cause Daddy was pretty damned ugly. I'm on the left. Or is it the right…?

Wade, the fact that you are wearing an analog watch means you can probably tell time, which automatically puts you in the top 5% of TubeNet intelligence.

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Wade, the fact that you are wearing an analog watch means you can probably tell time, which automatically puts you in the top 5% of TubeNet intelligence.[/quote]

So what tuba is best for me? What kind of mouthpiece do I need? Is St. Petersburg tubas the best? I heard they are because they have Saint in their name.

For those playing older British tubas or other tubas with a narrow stem (bassbone size) it might be of interest to know that for an extra fee you can have the blokepiece also with the narrow stem.

I asked him because I am considering a wider and not too deep mouthpiece for my 1870 Besson Eb. The Denis Wick 4 and 5 are fine, only they restrict me too much in the low range. That 0.634" bore tuba could easily take the input from a turned down Conn Helleberg, when Søren tried it, so I guess that bloke’s model will not overload it.

Klaus

OK, somewhere, probably bloke's original thread taking orders, are the hard numbers for the specs of the mouthpiece. I have tried to search for it, but I guess I'm either not getting my search terms right, or bloke deleted the thread after orders were taken.

Anybody got the specs?

Thanks.

Scooby Tuba wrote:
The other one is the mouthpiece Dave Houser is making from a certain "bloke's" F tuba mainstay. It seems to marry a traditional Hellebergish (maybe?) rim (flatter/sharpish/narrower) with an F type cup (TU23/C4 or PT64 maybe?). Has any one played seem this one first-hand? Seems to offer a combination not really found elsewhere. Is there anything out there like this?

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From a casual observation, this piece looks somewhat similar to the Conn 2 / UMI2 - rim, cup, outer coutour. Modding the backbores on these Conn 2's was a common thing. Am I somewhat in the ballpark on this, or completely off base?

MartyNeilan wrote: From a casual observation, this piece looks somewhat similar to the Conn 2 / UMI2 - rim, cup, outer coutour. Modding the backbores on these Conn 2's was a common thing. Am I somewhat in the ballpark on this, or completely off base?

On which point?

• similar rim
• similar cup
• similar outer contour
• common mod to Conn mouthpieces
• something else

From what I'm reading about the cup, not at all like my Conn 2, which has the most nearly funnel shape of any of my mouthpieces.

Outer contour, I'd guess the rim barrel is much taller than the UMI, and the tapered part is a little more conical and more complicated, but haven't looked closely at one for a long time. I think this is one very good looking mouthpiece, by the way.

MartyNeilan wrote: From a casual observation, this piece looks somewhat similar to the Conn 2 / UMI2 - rim, cup, outer coutour. Modding the backbores on these Conn 2's was a common thing. Am I somewhat in the ballpark on this, or completely off base?

It's nothing at all like a Conn 2 at all other than the exterior shape.

The Blokepiece is a shallow bowl that funnels a tiny bit at the bottom of the cup. Bloke would call this a reverse taper. The inner dimension of the cup is fairly wide and the rim is fairly narrow.

I have tooted Bloke's mouthpiece several times over the past 15 or so years. It always seemed to work a bit better than whatever I was using on my F tuba at the time. When he decided to make copies in stainless steel, ordering one was a no-brainer for me.


Christian

cjk wrote:

MartyNeilan wrote: From a casual observation, this piece looks somewhat similar to the Conn 2 / UMI2?

It's nothing at all like a Conn 2 at all other than the exterior shape.
The Blokepiece is a shallow bowl that funnels a tiny bit at the bottom of the cup. Bloke would call this a reverse taper. The inner dimension of the cup is fairly wide and the rim is fairly narrow.
I have tooted Bloke's mouthpiece several times over the past 15 or so years. It always seemed to work a bit better than whatever I was using on my F tuba at the time. When he decided to make copies in stainless steel, ordering one was a no-brainer for me.
Christian

Guess I was off base on this one then - hence the "casual observastion" qualification. FWIW, one of the best medium-sized mouthpieces I ever played on was a modified Conn 2. A similar modern equivalent would be the Floyd Cooley Helleberg, but the FC piece was much lighter and did not have a rim that worked as well for me. I may still have to try the blokepiece someday; the Bobo Solo I am currently using on my F works pretty well but I am not absolutely in love with it. I have found that I am one of the few people who prefers gold plating over stainless steel. But, just having Bloke's name on the mouthpiece should automatically add one octave to my range in each direction!

MartyNeilan wrote:.....just having Bloke's name on the mouthpiece should automatically add one octave to my range in each direction!

Is he that scary?

K

So, how does this mouthpiece compare to an MF-4, for any of you who have seen and tried both? Shallower? Deeper? Bigger or smaller throat?

Rick "who compares F mouthpieces to an MF-4, always" Denney